Improvement in clock-cases



2 Sheets-Sheet 1'.

M. BOOK. Clock-Case. No. 208,563. Patented Oct. 1,1878.

, WITNESS S: INVENTOR:

d Mao I BY ATTORNEYS.

N. PHERS PHOTO-IITHOGRAPMER, WASHINGTON D C.

I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. M. B 0 CK. Clock-Case.

No. 208,563. Patented pct. 1,1 878...

WIT INVENTOR:

ATTORNEYS.

N. PETERS, PHQTOJJTHOGRAPNER. WASHINGTON, D. c.

,B TAVAILA EC MARTIN BOOK, OF HUGHESVILLE, (DRUMS P. O.,) PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN CLOCK-CASES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 208,563, dated October1, 1878 application filed August 1, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARTIN 13001:, of Hughesville, (Drums P. O.,) in thecounty of Luzerne and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new anduseful lmprovemen ts in Olocks, of which the following is aspecification:

My invention relates particularly to a clock actuated by a springinstead of a weight, and provided with a balance-wheel escapementinsteadof a pendulum.

The invention consists in certain novel details of construction,arrangement, and combiuation of devices, hereinafter particularlydescribed, whereby a time-movement, a striking-movement, and analarm-movement are carried in and by a single frame, and inclosed in acase of neat appearance and of compact form and size; provision is madefor operating and regulating the various parts from the exterior of thecase; a cheap, substantial, and serviceable clock is produced, andseveral advantages are obtained.

The accompanying drawing represents a clock embodying my improvements.

Figure l is a face view of the clock inclosed in the case. Fig. 2 is arear view of the same. Fig. 3 is atop view of the mechanism removed fromthe case. Fig. 4 is a bot-tom view of the same. Fig. 5 is a bottom viewof the clockcase. Fig. 6 is a front view of the mechanism in place inthe case, with the clock-face removed. Fig. 7 is a rear view of thesame, with the back of the ease removed. Fig. 8 is a side view of themechanism, with the clockcase in vertical section, looking toward theright-hand side of Fig. 1 or Fig. 6. Fig. 9 is a similar view, lookingtoward the left-hand side of said figures, or toward the right-hand sideof Figs. 2 and 7.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspondin g parts.

The entire mechanism is attached to and carried by a frame composed of afront plate, A, and a back plate, A connected by posts a at the corners.This frameis secured to the case A, and held firmly in place thereon attwo points, and in a very simple manner, as

follows: To the back plate, A are secured two arms or strips of brass, aa, one at the top and the other at the bottom. Each arm or strip isriveted at one end to the rear or outer side of the plate A and is thenbent forward toward the front of the frame, parallel with the variouswheel shafts or arbors. A tap-hole is formed in each arm for thereception of a screw passing through the caseA. In order to utilize saidscrews not only for fastening the frame, but for other purposes, theupper one is provided with an ornamental handle, a", for' carrying theclock, and the lower screw, a", is employed for securing the bell A tothe case A.

To the front plate, A, and to an additional plate, A hereinafterreferred to, two arms or strips of brass, a a, are riveted, and to thesetwo arms the clock face or dial A is secured by screws. By this mode ofattaching the face to the frame and securing the frame to the case Iavoid the necessity for attaching the frame which carries the mechanismto an extra frame or ring before attaching it to the clock-case, as hasheretofore been necessary.

The clock-case A is of circular form, preferably of metal, and may beplain or ornamental, as may be preferred; and it is provided with feet11*. The back A is inserted in the case flush with its rear edge, whereit is held in place by pins or screws, and it is provided with a foot,a. These three feet support the clock, and provide amplespace for thebell A", located under the case.

The bell A receives the blows of the hammer L, which strikes the hours,and also of the hammer L, connected with the alarm-movement. Heretoforethe alarm-movement in a clock has been carried in a special frameseparate from that which carried the clock mechanism, and has beenattached at another point in the clock-case, and connected by a rod orwire with a cam-wheel on the sleeve of the hour-hand wheel, which camalso carried a plate marked with figures corresponding with the twelvehours.

In my invention the alarm-movement is attached to and carried by themain frame.

The arbor B has its bearings in the back plate, A, the front plate, A,and an additional plate, A, having its ends bent laterally and thenlongitudinally, and secured to the front plate, A, at one side of theframe. The spring B has one end connected to one of the posts a, and theother end to the arbor B, in rear of the front plate, A and the mainwheel B and its ratchet and click are arranged on V said arbor in frontof the front plate, A, and between it and the plate A. The alarm-hammershank and the wheel and pinion driven by the main wheel B also havetheir bearings between the front plate, A, and the plate A By thisarrangement of the parts the entire mechanism is carried by the mainframe, and a space in said frame is utilized which would otherwise bevacant.

Instead of the ordinary cam-wheel and disk for setting thealarm-movement, I employ a toothed wheel carrying a hand; and I mark anadditional dial on the clock -face correspondin g with the l1] ain dial.The alarm-hand wheel is set by a pinion carried by an arbor extendingthrough to the back of the frame.

The parts are arranged and operated as follows: The center-wheel Creceives motion from the great-wheel G, and the center-wheel arborcarries the hour-hand wheel 0, in the usual manner. The alarm-hand wheelC is formed with a sleeve or hub, like the usual hour-hand wheel, andfits over the sleeve or hub of said wheel 0*, so as to turnindependently thereof. On the inner end of the hub of the wheel 0 is acam, a", of a form somewhat resembling a ratchet or saw-tooth; and onthe outer end of the hub of the wheel 0, or. the portion of said wheelfrom which its sleeve extends, is a notch or shoulder, c, correspondingin form with the tooth or cam 0 (See particularly Figs. 3 and 9.) \Vhenthe tooth and notch c are exactly opposite to each other they engage,somewhat like a clutch, so that the wheel (J will move in one directionwithout turning the other; but if moved backward, or in the otherdirection, it carn'es the other with it, and the wheel G will moveindefinitely in one direct-ion independently of the other, but can onlymake one revolution in the opposite direction. The wheel is turned inorder to set the alarm-hand by means of a wheel, (1 on an arbor, cjournaled in the front and back plates of the frame, and provided with athumb -wheel, T for turning it.

For holding the alarm-hammer to prevent it from striking except at theproper time, I employ a lever, 13, having its fulcrum just below thecenter-wheel shaft, and provided with a spring, 1), below its fulcrum,for pressing its lower end outward and its upper end inward. The upperend of this lever is forked, and fits around the hub of the wheel 0between the inner side of said wheel and a flange, 0", formed on saidhub between the side of the wheel and the tooth or cam 0 By means ofthis spring-lever the wheel 0 is enabled to move outward while the wheelG is turning independently of it, and is forced inward when the tooth cand notch or shoulder c are opposite each other, so as to cause theirengagement, as before described.

The lever B is made of a strip of metal, and its lower end is twistedone-quarter of a turn, so as to place its width at right angles to thewidth of the main portion ot'its length.

This twisted lower end bears against the shank l of the alarm-hammer Las long as the tooth or cam c and notch or shoulder a are not engagedwith each other, and prevents the hammer from striking the hell; but assoon as said parts arrive opposite each other the wheel C is forcedinward by the action of the spring b on the lever B, and the lower en ofthe lever is thrown outward, so as to relieve the shank l and allow thehammer to strike the bell.

In striking-clocks as heretofore constructed two sets of mechanism werenecessary-one for the going or time movement and one for thestriking-movem cut-and each set required.

a separate spring independent of the other.

In my invention both the time-movement and the striking-movement aredriven by one spring, which is arranged in a different manner from thatheretofore employed.

One end of the mainspring D is .attached to the greatwheel arbor c, andthe other end is attached to the greatwheel 0, which is loose on saidarbor. The great-wheel 0 lies on one side of the spring D and thestrikingwheel E on the other side. The strikingwheel is loose on thearbor, and is provided with a click, engaging with a ratchet which isfast on the arbor.

By this arrangement of the spring and the wheels, the one springoperates both wheels and drives them in opposite directions. Thegreat-wheel O engages directly with the gearing on the center-wheelarbor, which, in turn, drives the rest of the going-train; and thestriking-wheel E engages directly with the striking-train.

In clocks as heretofore constructed the striking is regulated by theengagement of a stop-lever with a locking-plate provided with notchescorresponding with the hours. The locking-plate is arranged to revolvein a vertical plane, being usually carried by the striking-wheel or itsarbor, and the notches are formed in the periphery of the plate. Thestop-lever works vertically, and has its upper end bent and flattened,and arranged to drop into the notches ateertain intervals, in order toarrest the motion of the striking-wheel when the striking of the hour iscompleted.

In my invention the ordinary loekil'lg-plate is dispensed with, andinstead thereof I form the notches on the inner edge of the rim of thestriking-wheel E, which thus practically forms a locking-plate. Thenotches e are arranged in two sets, each indicating twelve hours, as thewheel E revolves once in twentyfour hours.

The stop-lever G is arranged to work laterally instead of vertically, asheretofore. Its front end, g, is bent and flattened, and enters thesides of the notches 0 instead of the tops thereof. Its rear end isattached to a shaft,

h, which is arranged to slide longitudinally,

and carries a hooked arm, H, engaging with holes in a disk-wheel, I,provided with pins 1 which engage with the tail of the hammer- SAVAILABLE cos shank l, to give riiotion to the hammer and cause it tostrikeflthe bell. The shaft his provided with a sp" ihg, h, which has atendency to pull it towa d" the front of the frame.

The hamm er L is hung in a position in the frame betyzv'een the shaft hand one of the posts (I. Just over this post a shaft, K, has itsbearings, a fid is arranged to slide longitudinally the r-73in, beingprovided with a spring, 7;, havimg a tendency to pull it toward thefront of the frame. This shaft K carries an arm, J, the outer end ofwhich is formed into a hook, j, which hook is also bent diagonallytoward the center of the front of the frame. The shaft K also carries anarm, J which extends between the hooked arm II and the front of theframe. The center-wheel arbor 0 passes through the hook j, and hasprojecting from it a pin, 13*, for engagement with said hook. As thecenter-wheel arbor revolves in the proper direction to move the handsforward, the pin 1' bears against one side of the laterally-inclinedportion of the hook j, in the same manner as against a cam or inclinedplane, and pushes it toward the back of the frame, cansin g the arm J topull backward on the hooked arm H and disengage it from the holes in thedisk-wheel I, and also disengage the stop-lever G from the notches 0, soas to produce the movement technically called warning, which is done inthe following manner: The diskwheel I gears with a pinion, m, on thesame shaft with a wheel, M, which drives the fanfly. The wheel Misprovided with two studs or stops, m m, on opposite sides, which may beformed by passing a pin through a hole in the wheel, so as to project onboth sides. The stop m engages with an arm, 71 on the shaft h, and thestop m engages with an arm, k on the shaft K. IVhile the stop m and armit remain engaged the wheel M cannot turn; but when the pin '6 on thecenter-wheel arbor c has nearly reached the end of the hook j, a fewminutes before striking, the longitudinal movement of the shafts K and Htoward the back of the frame disengages the arm h and stop m, and allowsthe wheel M to make one revolution but as the wheel M revolves with morethan double the velocity of the disk wheel I, said disk-wheel does notturn far enough to allow one of its pinst' to engage with thehammer-shank l.

The engagement of the arm h with the stop an is at a point somewhatforward of the point of engagement of the arm k with the stop m and theact of releasing the arm h from its position in front of the stop m hasthe effect of causing the arm k to pass behind the stop m as the wheel Mbegins to turn, so as to be in front of said step when it reaches thesame point again after making one revolution. This one revolutionproduces the movement called warning, and this engagement of the arm kand stop m arrests the movement of entire striking-train, but holds theparts in readiness to move as soon as they are released.

hen the hands of the clock reach the exact position for striking thehour, the pin 1' on the arbor 0 reaches the end or point of the cam orhook j, whereupon said end or point immediately slips over said pin 2'and allows the shaft K to be drawn by the spring 70 to its formerposition, so as to disengage the arm it from the step 111?, and allowthe striking-train to move and operate the hammer.

The arm k is so arranged with relation to the disk-wheel I and-hookedarm H that when the arm k is engaged with the stop m the hooked arm H isdisengaged from the holes in the disk-wheel, and is ready to ride on thesolid port-ion between said holes, so as to allow said disk-wheel toturn and the holes in said disk-wheel I and the notches ein the wheel E,together with the hooked lever Hand the bent end g of the stop-lever G,are so arranged with relation to each other that while the hammer isstriking the hour the end 1 travelson the solid metal between twonotches, c, and prevents the hooked lever H from springing into theholes in the disk-wheel I.

When the striking of the hour is completed, the next notch e has reachedthe end 1 of the stop-lev'er, which then springs into said notch, andthe hooked lever H engages with the diskwheel I, and thus arrests themovement of the wheel I, and consequently of the entire strikin g-train,and prevents the movement thereof until the center-wheel arbor has againturned far enough to cause the pin 7? to engage the cam or hook j andrepeat the movements before described.

In striking-clocks as heretofore constructed the hands of the clockcannot be turned backward without interfering with the strikingmechanism. In my invention provision is made for turning the hands bothbackward and forward without touching the hands themselves. Thecenter-wheel arbor 0" extends entirely through the back A of the case A,and is provided with a thumb-wheel, T for turning it. As thecenter-wheel and its pinion are held on the arbor 0 only by friction,said arbor may be turned by hand in either direction without affectingthe going-train.

The engagement of the pin 5 with the hook or cam j when the hands aremoving forward is on the front side of the laterally-inclined portion ofsaid hook, and the result is that the striking-train is set in motion,as before described; but when the arbor c is turned in the oppositedirection to move the hands backward, the pin i passes behind the rearside of said hook and does not move it backward, and consequently doesnotinterfere with the striking mechanism in any manner.

The turning of the hands by hand is accomplished by means of a pinion, 0fast on the arbor a in front of the front plate, A, gearing with awheel, 0, on the shaft, with a pinion, 0 which in turn gears with thehour-hand wheel 0. By this means provision is made for turning the handsin either direction by BEST AVAlLABLE hand without touching them andwithout interferin g with the proper working of either of the trains.

The arbor B of the alarm-movement extends through the back A and isprovided with a key, T, for turning it. It may also be provided withwhat is known asaGenevastop, to prevent the spring from being wound tootight. The great-wheel arbor 0 also extends through the back A", and isprovided with a similar key, T Each of these keys has its shank providedwith an internal thread for engagement with an external thread on thearbor, and is thus kept always in place and ready for use.

In order to be out of the way when not in use, the bows are connectedwith the shanks by pivots, so that they may hang down. Each bow is madeof a solid piece of flat metal, with two inwardly-turned pivots, t,which are sprung into place in holes in two opposite sides of the shank,near its outer end.

The shaft h is provided with an arm, h", which extends through a hole inthe back A. By pulling outward on this arm the strikingtrain is set inmotion and the clock made to strike independently of the going-train.

The regulating-lever r, for regulating the balance-spring, works in aslot, 8. in the back A provided with a sliding or swinging plate. 12,for covering it. By this means the clock may be regulated from theexterior of the back of the case.

In the lower side of the circular case A is an opening for the workingof the hammershanks. A portion of this opening is covered by a door orplate, Q, swinging on a pivot, q, and provided with a notch, q, forengagement with a stud, (1 on the case. By this means the plate may be1110\6d outward to allow the hammer-shanks to pass,'and may be movedinward and fastened so as to leave only room for them to operate.

Attached to the edge of the opening in the bottom of the case is aspring, o, for throwing the hammer L out of contact with the bell Aafter each stroke, in order to prevent interference with the vibrationof the bell when struck.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. In combination with the case A and the upper arm aof the frame, the screw a", having its upper part formed into a handle,whereby said screwis made to serve the double purpose of securing theframe to the ease and providing for carrying the clock, substantially asherein described.

2. In combination with the case A and the lower arm a the screw a,serving the double purpose of securing the frame to the case andsecuring the bell A in position, substantially as herein described.

3. A wheel, C provided with a sleeve or hub carryin g a hand or pointer,and adapted to fit over and turn freely on the sleeve of the hour-handWheel, in combinz.-ion with an additional dial marked on the old".k-faee, whereby the indicating of the time fol sounding the alarm isfacilitated, substantially ms herein described.

4. The combination, with the alarm-hand wheel 0 of the wheel C arbor cand t humbwheel T, arranged as shown, whereby porovision is made formoving the alarm-hanal from the exterior and rear of the case,substantially as herein described.

5. The combination of the alarm-h and wheel 0 provided with the tooth orcam a", and the hour-hand wheel C, provided with the notch or depression0, whereby provision is made for the engagement and disengagement of thealarm-movement and the time-movement, substantiall y as and for thepurpose herein described.

6.. The spring-lever 13 having its upper end formed for engagement withthe hub of the wheel 0 and its flange c", and its lower end forengagement with the hammer-shank P, in combination with the alarm-handwheel 0 and alarm-hammer L whereby said hammer is h -ld motionless untilthe desired time for striking, and is then released and allowed tostrike the bell to sound the alarm, substantially as herein described.

7. A locking-plate made in one piece with the great-wheel of thestriking-train by forming the notches on the inner edge of the rim ofsaid wheel, substantially as herein described.

8. In combination with alocking-plate formed on the rim of thestriking-wheel, a stop-lever adapted to engage with the sides of saidnotches, substantially as herein described.

9. The combination of the center-wheel arbor a" and its pin the arm Jand its hook or cam j, the shaft K and its aim J the shaft h and itshooked arm H, the stop-lever G and its bent and flattened front end g,the diskwheel I, and the striking-wheel E, provided with the notches 0,arranged with relation to and operating in connection with each other,as shown, for operating the striking-train, substantially as hereindescribed.

10. The combination of the center-wheel arbor c and its pin '5, the armJ and its hook or cam j, the shaft K, carrying the arms J z and le theshaft It, carrying the hooked arm II, stop lever G, and arm b thestriking-wheel E, provided with notches e, the disk-wheel I, and thewheel M, provided with the stops m an, arranged with relation to andoperating in connection with each other, as shown, for starting and thenarresting the striking-train and holdingitin readiness for striking atthe proper time, substantially as herein described.

MARTIN ROCK.

Witnesses:

GEORGE Huenns, H. W. SOIIEIRY.

It is hereby certified that the subject-matter of these Letters Patentspecified as follows, viz: in the Letters Patent proper, and in theheadings of sheets 1 and 2 of the drawings and of the specificationthereto annexed, Was erroneously stated by the Patent Office to be ClockCases. It should be Clocks.

December 7, 1878.

It is hereby certified that the subject-matter of these Letters Patentspecified as drawings and of the specification thereto annexed, waserroneously stated by the Patent QM K 0 O 1 C e b d 1 u 0 h s t I S m sw K 7 1 we Db 0m we D 0 I follows, viz: in the Letters Patent proper,and in the headings of sheets 1 and 2 of the

